(To whoever got the reference involving the names of Aelita and Jeremy… good eyes, that 'is' a reference I slipped in~ to everyone else, thank you for reviewing and telling me your reading it and liking it despite the parallels with another fic I recently read and was inspired to write my own story. If Alexander is reading this… I'm sorry my opening two chapters were so similar but… I couldn't think of any other way to make it as emotional as yours was, I hope you forgive me for that tiny copying… but the story itself that I'm writing is my own… again thank you all for your support and opinions.)
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'How come I must know, where obsession needs to go?'
'How come I must know, where aggression hides its feelings?'
'How come I must know, where obsession needs to go?'
'How come I must know, the direction of relieving?'
Chapter 4) The Child of Eden
A Bull tiredly walked into his apartment after working a late shift, upset that his coworker had to call in sick leaving him to cover the slack. As he got out of his uniform he flicked on his radio to his favorite station and decided to just zone out and be a slug for an hour before getting to work on lunch.
[How's it going Zootopia, it's a fine evening today and we here at Z Radio 7 hoping your all having a good day so far!] His favorite host said. [It's a fine day, partially cloudy, with a strong chance of raining bright sunshine before the days up, for all you lizards out there probably a good time to put on those running shoes and go for a nice jog!]
He chuckled at the joke as he leaned back in his chair and relaxed.
[Now there's still a few places out there in Zootopia that are beginning to enter their third week without power, not a nice thing to think about but we hope things will look better tomorrow! In the meantime, its time for our 'Hourly Special', that's right, a whole hour of music with no breaks and no annoying ads, oh please don't fire me chief I'm just sayin what everymammal's thinkin!]
He sank deeper into his chair, so glad he got home for his favorite time of the broadcast, he loved listening to the music they played, especially Gazelle's as she was one of his favorite artists.
[Now let's start this hour off with Gazelle a fan favorite of ours here at Z Radio 7, here she is Gazelle take it away and start us off with 'Try Everything'!]
(I messed up tonight, I lost another fight, I still mess up but I'll just start aga-)
-Bzztsas-
(If you were with me now… I'd find myself in you…)
He snapped open angrily and was about to yell at the radio to put Gazelle back on, when his phone rang. Grunting angrily, first with his favorite artist being swapped for 'whoever' this was for no reason, and now someone calling him, probably from work. He looked at the number and, not recognizing it, cancelled the call. Yet right as it did cancel it called right back.
"Go away!" He yelled as he swiped it to tell the caller to shut up, but again the caller rang right back automatically.
Now really fed up, he answered the call just to yell at whoever was on the other side to leave him alone, but not half a second after he answered…
(I want to live my life, the way you said I would!)
The caller was singing, and not just singing loudly on his phone but it was the 'same' mammal singing on the radio.
(With courage as my light, fighting for what's right, like you made me believe I could!)
Now he was annoyed, he just wanted to sit back, relax and listen to some Gazelle on the radio for a while. He cancelled the call and turned his phone off and started shifting through the radio channels to find one he liked. But every channel was blasting the same thing…
(And I will fly-) Click
(On my father's wings-) Click
(to places I have-) Click
(never been, there is so-) Click
(much-) click (I've never-) click (Seen-) click (And I can-)
When he realized that every single radio station was blaring the same song, he realized that this wasn't some sick weird joke, especially since his phone turned on by itself and was ringing for him again.
He looked at the phone and at the number he didn't know, and answered it…
(his heartbeat still, and I will do great things… on my father's wings!)
He was baffled, but comprehension began to dawn on him as he looked between the radio and his phone, the singer still singing loudly for 'someone'.
They were trying to get a message out, whoever this mammal was, was trying to get someone to hear them.
And 'she' was obviously desperate if she was calling through his phone and the radio.
And not just the bull, all over Zootopia, every radio station and phone were blasting the same thing. A song blaring into every mammal's phone as the caller defied all technology's capabilities and forced them to hear the song. Radio hosts and show technicians were scrambling trying to switch off the song and regain control over their stations, but each attempt had no effect as the singer asserted 'their' control.
Mammals tried calling each other on their phones but no matter how quick they could not cancel the call and call another, as the song blasted on max volume. Even if they tried to turn their phones off to stop the music, they turned back on shortly after and the call returned, and if not answered by them was answered automatically and blasted the song at max volume.
Police stations were all being blasted and swamped by calls, but the calls were only the singer and the song that every other phone and radio was blasting. Even their short-ranged radios and walkie talkies were affected as officers tried to communicate, reduced to blaring their sirens and yelling to each other to get messages out and dispatches, anything to figure out what was going on. The emergency dispatch channel was being blasted as well, so not even that channel was useable to them.
"Can 'anyone' get a signal out?" Chief Bogo yelled as he flicked through every channel on the police radio, trying to find one that 'wasn't' blazing a stupid song.
"Nothing sir, nothing's working!" An elephant yelled in frustration as she smashed the third radio she'd tried before grabbing yet 'another' backup from storage and trying it.
"Confound it all, Hopps, Wilde, my office NOW!" The bull yelled over the noise.
Seconds later a rabbit officer, Lt. Judy Hopps, and officer Nick Wilde a fox, ran into his office with serious faces.
"Take a squad car and get over to Newcomer Hospital and tell the Mayor the city is in absolute chaos! Tell her we can't get any signal out over the radio and phones are being bombarded by this stupid singing hacker. We need to get security and trace the source before the situation gets worse, we are 'completely blind' and if we can't respond to emergencies then we can't do our job! Now go!"
"Yes sir!" Hopps said as she bounded away, tagging behind her was Wilde, not as fast as the rabbit but still managing to keep up.
They ran to the nearest squad car, turned the key and took off to the hospital, all the while the radio was blasting whoever was singing.
(Empty spaces, fill me up with holes… distant faces, with no place left to go… without you, within me I can find no rest…)
"Well whoever they are, they have quite the singing voice… never heard these songs before." Nick said with an inward grin. "Like the lyrics too."
"Yea well whoever they are they need to stop, who knows what could be happening right now, some poor mammal could be in need of medical attention and they can't get their call out because of this hacker!" Judy snapped back.
(I'm awake but my world is half asleep, I pray for this heart to be unbroken, but without you all I'm going to be is… incomplete!)
Nick however, was listening to the song, and the words were starting to touch him in a way that clearly Judy wasn't noticing. Ironic considering she's supposed to be the 'emotional dumb bunny'. A part of him figured that, whoever this hacker was, whoever she was, was just desperate to find someone important to them.
Though perhaps they could have found a more subtle way of searching that didn't involve hacking every radio station, phone and walkie talkie in Zootopia and blasting her songs out.
(Jeremy's PoV)
(Voices tell me, I should carry on, but I am swimming in an ocean all alone… baby my baby… it's written on your face… you still wonder, if we made a big mistake!)
"Who's Aelita?" Gazelle asked, wondering if perhaps 'another' human did survive, and by the sound of her name it was a female human.
"Aelita was an AI my dad was developing before I was frozen." He said as he looked at the phone and listened to the human songs playing, being sung by a single voice.
To anyone else 'not' from his time period, the songs would be foreign and weird, outlandish perhaps and wouldn't make sense. But him, knowing that Aelita could only communicate to others outside of her own personal thought was with songs, the music was a message to him specifically.
"She was designed to carry all of Humanity's knowledge, its wisdom, its culture, everything that made 'us' good…" He said as he recalled everything his Father ever mentioned to him about the AI. "He said that… when it was time to wake everyone up, I would have to find Aelita and wake her up. When we started to rebuild our world, she would make sure we wouldn't make the same mistakes of our past by pointing them out before we could make them, thus guiding us to building a better world than what we destroyed and left behind."
"So… why didn't you mention her before?" Lioness asked curiously, writing down more notes because of how interested she was in the subject.
"Because… I just assumed she had died as well." He whispered, feeling like an idiot for not even 'thinking' about her the moment he was feeling better. "I figured, since the base's power had diverted all that was left to the Cryogenic Pods, that the power she would have needed to stay active would also have been cut. Sentinel would cut the power to itself as well as a last act to keep the pods active as long as possible."
"If she's still active, then she would have been waiting for me or anyone else to wake her up at last." He said as put the pieces together. "She would have waited at least two days, nine hours more than what was required to safely thaw a human to consciousness. If we still didn't wake her up, she would wait however long she deemed necessary, until she began to 'call' for us to wake her up. If we still didn't respond, her call would be meant for whoever the dominant species on the planet was… because her purpose would stay the same for 'them', to help them learn of us… and help them not make 'our' mistakes."
(I don't mean to drag it on, but I can't seem to let you go… I don't want to face this world alone!) The song continued, Aelita singing for him and him alone. (I tried, to go on like I never knew you… I'm awake, but my world is half asleep… I prayed for this heart to be unbroken… but without you all I'm going to be is… incomplete… … … incomplete!)
"I may not understand much of humans, but I know when someone is singing with their heart." Gazelle said sadly, smiling at her human friend. "I think Jeremy, that this Aelita is trying to get you to save 'her' as well. I think she's been lonely long enough."
As if to answer that question, Aelita began singing again.
(Remember the time, when you were here inside my dream, my wish you'll be mine… your understanding all I need, discover and see… that you're the only one for me, together we'll be free… that's how it's meant to be!)
"She is calling for me, she wants me to save her as well." Jeremy said as he felt renewed purpose, starting to stand up. "I have to go and save her before she also runs out of power! If she runs out of power before I wake her up, she'll be Hnnnng!"
Instantly his hands grasped at the metal of the bed below him, trying to help him balance as he tried to stand. But the sudden cold metal triggered his Cryogenetic Sclerosis in his arms, and instantly his hand and arm suddenly began to freeze.
He fell to the floor, barely caught by Gazelle who felt his whole-body tense and curl up as it tried to fight the cold however it could. Unfortunately, his body's automatic reaction caused his arms to grip each other, which triggered the freezing effect from one arm to another, and because he'd hugged himself tightly his legs were triggered and then his feet.
Suddenly his whole body was freezing and shivering from sudden cold, as if he were standing in the middle of a freezing blizzard in nothing but a skintight swimsuit. He could barely stay still as he shivered in cold, doing everything in his power to keep his arms and legs away from his chest where his heart was.
"Cold… so cold… so cold…" He whimpered, feeling helpless as his body fought pathetically against the invisible cold that did not exist outward, while inside his body battled for its very survival.
Gazelle was quick to react, grabbing the electric blanket and turning its heat to maximum, adding her own body heat and hugging him close and hushing his whimpers, letting him know she was there still.
Mayor Lioness put her paper down and ran to the door and 'roared' for nurses and doctors to get in that room 'now'.
Moments later a dozen nurses and doctors were all surrounding him and Gazelle as some checked his heart rate, others had defibrillators on standby, and the rest throwing as many heavy blankets on him as they could find to help warm his body up as fast as possible.
Despite all the warmth he was surrounded by, blankets, electric blankets, even an industrial strength hair dryer that one Tiger doctor had for himself blasting the pile of blankets at full power, it took a full ten minutes before his body had returned to normal. Yet all that warmth paled in comparison to the warmth that Gazelle had shared for him, as she refused to let him go, telling the doctors to wrap the blankets around her because she refused to let him be alone for 'any' reason during his sudden moment of helplessness. The feeling of her heartbeat, still beating almost in perfect sync with his, the smooth feeling of her soft and warm fur on his skin, and the fact she was holding him close to her the entire time meant more than anything else to him.
As he slowly returned to normal, he slowly used the many blankets shielding them from the eyes of their onlookers, to hold Gazelle as well, returning the warmth and feeling she was sharing with him. To him, it was just returning the gesture of closeness, of assurance, that she had not left his side and that he was grateful to her for the gesture.
But to Gazelle, and to both of their hearts… it meant far more to them.
He could never thank her enough for all she's done, saving his life, encouraging him to keep going despite all that's happened, and now reacting even faster than the mayor or any doctor and nurse with trying to help save his life.
"Thank you…" He whispered softly so that only 'she' could hear him.
"I won't let you go Jeremy…" She whispered just as quietly so only 'he' could hear him. "I'm right here… every second… of every minute. I'm right here with you…"
(Leaves are falling on my window… turning golden fire with the wind they go… I've lost my way where do I go now, this looks just like the road I came down…) Aelita sang from Gazelle's phone at that moment, causing him to remember what it was he was supposed to do. (Take a moment to live, take a moment to cry, take a moment to love… and don't ask why!)
"She's calling for me… I need to go save her…" He told them.
"Not in your condition, I'm sorry Mr. Jeremy but after that we can't let you leave the hospital until we can find a way to alleviate your condition!" A Doctor said. "Your heart rate spiked drastically, I'm sorry but even if the Mayor ordered it… pardon me ma'am, but even if Mayor Lioness ordered me and threatened to have me fired, I will not allow a patient under my watch in your condition to leave!"
"But she needs me, I'm the only one who wake her up and save her!" He said trying to get up but struggled with the weight of all the blankets and Gazelle still holding him.
"Not on my watch, your staying here until I decide your fit to leave and that's that!" He said adamantly.
"As much as I…" The mayor started saying before two officers burst into the hospital room, a fox and rabbit looking exhausted.
"Mayor Lioness, we need you at city hall now!" The rabbit said quickly. "The city is in utter chaos!"
"What is going on now?" She asked exhaustedly.
"Take a listen for yourself." The fox said, taking his phone out and showing them.
(If our love is tragedy why are you my remedy, if our love is tragedy why are you my clarity?) The song coming out was the exact same song, in perfect sync, coming out of both Gazelle's and the Mayor's phone.
"Every radio station and phone has been broadcasting this song the past hour, inter-city communications are down, and all emergency lines are being blocked. We think a hacker has taken complete control of the city's communications, leaving the city in utter chaos. Police are unable to respond to emergency calls and officers in the field can't communicate with HQ, hospitals can't receive or send out signals and emergency response teams are stranded." The rabbit said urgently, ignoring him and Gazelle and the other medical staff.
"Though whoever it is that is doing it is really good, not only hacked our phones forcing us to listen to their music but also the radio stations, short wave radios, even walkie talkies are blasting this music." The fox said with a casual wave. "Gatta hand it to em, they are thorough."
"She's not hacking!" He yelled, causing the rabbit and fox and mayor to look at him.
Silence as everyone listened while the rabbit and fox processed what they were seeing, as Gazelle had gotten most of the blankets up and was helping him to a standing position, still not letting go of his hand as she helped him up.
"Is that 'the' Gazelle?" The rabbit asked quietly.
"Who's the weird mammal?" The fox asked just as quietly.
"You said she had hacked every radio station, phone, short ranged radio and walkie talkie in town?" He asked wanting to be sure.
"Uh… yes?" The rabbit answered nervously. "Who… are you?"
"She's going through every signal she has in her database to try and contact me!" He said as he tried to take a few steps but was held back by a nurse and pushed back toward the bed. "Please, let me go… I have to save her before she runs out of time!"
"Save who, who is it your talking about?" The fox asked now.
"Aelita, I need to save her… she's doing all of that because nobody has woken her up, and I'm the only one she will listen to now!" He tried yelling but started coughing.
"Jeremy please, calm down, we'll help you but please clam down." Gazelle said.
"His name is Jeremy?"
"Gazelle knows him?"
(I'm living in nature… I touch, I feel, I cry… knowing that you have so so far away… surrounded in silence… believe forgive… time is running out to make it better… I hear you call... I reach out to where you are…) The phones all started singing in unison, and the words he heard made him listen with all his might. (I hear your voice… the words come from deep inside of me… I fly… this sky… in darkness, light the world with hope and belief…)
"Please listen, she wont stop until she either runs out of power and dies or I respond and wake her up!" He begged them. "She'll push the signal harder, she'll push the range further until someone responds to her, but the only way to respond to her now is if I go and wake her up! She's dying, she's begging me to find her, she's trying to find me! Please… let me save her, I have to save her please!"
It was Gazelle he begged now, hoping she could make them understand, and she nodded in agreement. She was the only one who could make them believe now.
"Let him go Mayor, this is something he has to do!" She said to Lioness. "Please, give him a chance, if he can save her let him try!"
The Mayor nodded and turned to the head doctor. "You heard him let him go." She stated.
"But miss mayor, we can't, in his condition if something happens and we aren't there to respond…"
"You have about ten seconds to come up with an excuse to let him out of this hospital or so help me, I will personally make sure that everyone in this hospital will know who exactly to blame when they are OUT OF A JOB!" She roared.
Turns out when he wasn't the only one being threatened, the head doctor could come up with an excuse quite fast. As Jeremy was being escorted out by Gazelle, who insisted that she be with him every step, and now the officers who had come to talk to the mayor, he had arranged for an Ambulance with medical staff and several dozen heavy blankets and defibrillators to follow Gazelle's limo if anything happened.
Because he had no clothes of his own, he was given simple clothes that barely fit him to wear and wore a hat and large coat to cover his features from mammals.
As they walked, they entered the main entrance where her four burly tiger bodyguards were still keeping the news reports and paparazzi at bay.
"Out of the way, this is an emergency!" Mayor Lioness yelled as her own guards helped push the press back so they could clear the way for them.
"Miss Mayor what's going on!"
"No Comment!"
"Miss Mayor why is every radio and phone playing the same songs!"
"No Comment!"
"Who is that Miss Mayor?"
"NO COMMENT!"
"Miss Gazelle who is that, is that your boyfriend?"
"Is he somemammal important to you?"
"Miss Gazelle is that the mammal you rescued?"
Her Tiger Guards pushed past the mammals and quickly got them into Gazelle's car, the three Tigers ran to the other side and got in the other seats and drove away quickly. Right behind them an ambulance and behind that a squad car.
"Where to miss Gazelle?"
"To the Sahara Square Deep-Ground Station!" She said, still holding Jeremy's hand as he looked at the city around him, only realizing that this was the first time he had a chance to properly look around.
The city was beautiful, it almost looked like a modern human city from before his time. The sky was beautiful as well, only a few wisps of clouds to mar the otherwise darkening blue sky that was slowly turning orange as dusk approached. He saw bits of nature here and there, trees and plant life, all looking about as foreign to him because he only ever knew of them as pictures and texts. Yet all around him life… life flourished, mammals walked on tiled floors and cemented paths, talked and gossiped and laughed…
'It all healed… all without 'us' to help it…' He thought wondrously, and sadly at the same time.
"I know just take us there Moe!" Gazelle said sternly.
The Tiger 'Moe' nodded and turned down a street, followed closely by the Ambulance and the squad car.
Twenty minutes of driving later, during which the radio continued to blast song after song of Aelita singing, and they finally reached a construction site. The frame of a 'New Train Station' dominating the square building that had various construction pieces around it. The limo stopped and the Tigers hopped out and helped them out, with Jeremy limping heavily as his feet were still not used to walking.
Behind them the ambulance staff jumped out with medical tools in tow, and the squad car emptied of the Mayor and the two officers.
"Follow me Jeremy…" She said and took the lead.
Moments later news vans started swarming and pouring mammals toward them, and on que Gazelle's bodyguards turned and held their arms out to keep them from entering.
He however had eyes only for the tunnel that they entered before going to an elevator and heading deep underground.
As they descended, he felt the tiniest bit colder and shivered slightly. Instantly Gazelle had her arms around him and looking at him with a warm smile. "Don't worry, I have you Jeremy…"
He nodded in gratitude before watching the doors open up to a darkened tunnel of earth, lit up only by various lights. They entered the tunnel and the Mayor led the way, until he no longer needed her to show them the way as he recognized the outskirts of his base.
The metal was still just as pristine, if not a little dirtier being underground for all this time, as when it was first constructed.
"Miss Mayor, what is going on up there?" A mole said as they approached the entrance.
"That can wait, is everyone out of the structure?"
"Yes, for now, but why?"
"Because the original tenant is back…" She said as she stepped out of the way to reveal him.
He looked at Jeremy with a shocked expression, but Jeremy didn't care… he had something important to do. He stepped past the mole and walked down the ramp of dirt to the emergency side entrance of the base they had uncovered. He slowly walked into his old base, feeling a sense of dread as he remembered just what was waiting for him past those doors.
He took one step into the building, and stepped from the wonderful, colorful, life-filled world that he had just woken up into… and stepped back in time into the lifeless, soulless, hopeless void that was where 'he' came from.
(Gazelle's PoV)
Gazelle helped him into the base as best she could, but he let go of her hand and walked in on his own strength. She followed behind, marveling at how amazing the structure looked even buried underground, how vast it looked compared to her… until she too stepped into it.
The air felt stale and old, it felt dead and devoid of anything she knew. The walls looked lifeless to her, the cramped space making her feel trapped and confined. The lack of colors and anything resembling nature caused her to feel scared and sad.
'How can anyone grow up in a place like this?' She thought sadly. 'This is worse… worse than the worst slums in Zootopia…'
As she slowly followed Jeremy, followed by the mayor and several engineers and scientists, all she saw around her was the same bland metallic wall. Not even a hint of life could be found, not a trace of joy or love or kindness to be found.
Her heart felt terrible, imagining Jeremy living here, growing up as a child, surrounded by nothing but metal and devoid of love and life.
'He didn't lie when he said they were desperate to survive… but this is… this is worse than I ever imagined…'
They passed by several doors and hallways, mostly empty, each barely lit by the lights that the crews had pushed in there to light everything up. All that was revealed was the same deathless state, nothing that caused her to smile, not even one picture to help brighten the scene!
Then they entered the 'Command Center', and she could hear the song playing that was playing on all of their phones.
(In this fair world… there's no blood… there's no alibi… cause I've drawn regret… from the truth, of a thousand lies… so let mercy come… and wash away…. What I've done!)
"Good… she's still active… for how long though?" Jeremy said as he limped past the computers and turned down a hallway.
She followed behind, not liking this place anymore the longer she was there, as the more she looked made the building more lifeless and soulless than it did before. But this was still Jeremy's home, and out of respect she kept her thoughts to herself.
He walked past rooms, looked inside some before moving on.
"How do you know what Aelita looks like?" She asked.
"I don't, but I know dad would have put her in a container that we would recognize instantly!" He said before slowing down and shivering slightly.
"Jeremy are you alright?" She asked instantly, recognizing the symptoms of his disease.
"I'm fine… just… cold down here…" He said, still walking on. "I have to find her… the base won't last much longer, and if Sentinel is offline than only Aelita can turn the base over to the backup generators, and she won't do anything until she wakes up!"
It was as they passed by a room that Jeremy didn't notice that she looked in it, and saw lying in the corner, a box.
It was like a cardboard box, painted with the letters that had faded with age… yet one letter was still barely visible.
'A'
"Jeremy, what about that?" She asked.
Jeremy turned around and looked at it before rushing forward and falling to the floor in his rush. But that didn't stop him as he knelt by the box and opened it up, his eyes beaming in joy as he looked at the object inside of it.
"She's here!" He yelled, causing the Mayor and Gazelle to join him and look at 'Aelita'.
What they saw, was a glass orb sitting atop a base that had a wire connecting it to another Egg, but this egg was tiny by comparison. Yet it was glowing blue and hissing cold air as she watched it.
"That's Aelita?" She asked, pointing at the pod.
"No… 'that's' Aelita." He muttered, pointing at the glass orb.
The glass orb was not that big, barely larger than a small ball, but it clearly meant a lot to him because he picked it up and held it out of the box.
"Sorry I took so long Aelita… time to wake up now." He said as he put a hand on a small knob and flicked it.
There was silence as the orb just sat motionless in his hand, before he became nervous and started flicking it back and forth.
"Oh no… no no nononono!" He yelled as he flicked it frantically.
"What's wrong with her?" Lioness asked.
Jeremy frantically looked at the orb before turning it over and staring at the underside.
"Her battery is dead… she's been surviving by staying connected to the Cryogenic Stasis power grid!" He moaned fearfully. "She doesn't even realize I'm here!"
"Is there anything you can do?" Gazelle asked nervously, afraid of what would happen to Jeremy if he couldn't save Aelita, his last ray of hope for saving anymammal from his past.
Jeremy looked up at her before nodding in determination. "I can hook her up to the main system, if I can get her to realize I'm here, and connect her power to what's left of the power grid I can wake her up that way!"
He got up and stumbled a little as he walked past them to the command center, and put the orb on the center consoles, and started grabbing wires and plugging them into her orb.
"Come on Aelita… I know your in there!" She heard him mutter desperately.
She watched him feverishly work on the computer, trying anything he could to get it to turn on. "I need energy… just enough to get it to turn 'on'!" He said as he muttered.
"Do we have a generator we can hook up to it?" Mayor Lioness asked.
"No, we burned the last one we had." A Badger said.
"Well get one in here, and FAST!" She roared.
"Wait… would this work?" Gazelle asked, handing her phone to Jeremy which was still singing music. "If I remember, the pod you were in used our phone's energy to power itself long enough to keep you alive."
Jeremy looked at the phone held out to him before nodding and taking it from her. He plugged it in and pushed the 'on' button again. The screen lit up briefly, before starting to turn off again as whatever energy the console had taken was now being diverted. But he quickly tapped something and created a 'keyboard' of lights in front of him and a steel microphone extended upward.
"Computer, initiate power transfer controls, voice authorization Jeremy, Pod Alpha seven one seven! Confirm Action!" He declared in a loud clear voice.
The screen blinked off before blinking back into life with the words 'Confirmed' on it. Then with a speed she wished she had when texting her agent, she watched him typing on the keyboard with frantic haste and a desperate look. "Come on… come on!" He yelled.
She watched as screens flew buy, images and pictures, words she couldn't comprehend fast enough before they flew past replaced by other images and words.
However, the computer was telling him another story, as the battery life on the screen was reaching closer and closer to zero. The closer it ticked the faster he typed, desperately trying to do whatever it was to save Aelita.
Suddenly her phone stopped playing the song, as the call recorded the longest call ever had… nearly an hour and thirty-seven minutes long…
"No… not yet… come on Aelita… not now!" He screamed desperately, typing as fast as his fingers could go. "Don't give up… come on please, I'm right here, wake up!"
The screen started to dim as the power ticked once more to zero.
"No… not yet… please… don't die on me!" He pleaded. "Wake up, wake up Aelita!"
Then just as it was about to hit zero, he screamed as loudly as he could, "AELITAAAAAAAAA!"
The screen flickered off, and all around them was silence. As soon as it turned off his hands stopped moving, and his breath slowed down… and the tears began.
"No… no… no…" He gasped desperately. "Aelita… no… please… no please no… please wake up…"
Gazelle watched him shakily touch the glass orb, as if hoping it would respond to his call, and she knew that he was too late. As reality set in, his shoulders slumped, his head slumped… his tears fell but his voice wouldn't cry.
"I'm… I'm so sorry Jeremy…" Gazelle whispered sadly, unable to believe that yet again, a glimmer of hope to her friend appeared…
And was furiously ripped away from him.
"Why… why didn't I think of her sooner…" He whispered quietly. "Why didn't I think sooner… why didn't I… why… why me?"
She held him close and hugged him tight, offering all the comfort she could as his heart beat slower and slower, as if unable to comprehend just how alone it felt. But her heart beat harder, as if trying to get it to beat faster, to let it know he was not alone.
Everyone in the room felt sad for the human, and the Mayor, seeing her phone working, fired off a text before telling everyone to quietly give him and Gazelle a moment together.
She hugged him tighter as the other mammals started to back out, leaving him and her alone in a sad embrace of two hearts, seemingly only able to get through this ordeal by being together.
(Gazelle's and Jeremy's PoV)
He returned her hug, unable to think of anything else to do as the mayor and her colleagues left.
His mission was a failure, his friends and family all dead, and now the last shred of humanity's wisdom and spirit, all that made his species good was lost.
What was the point in living now?
(Bah bah bah…)
A light shined briefly three times, flashing different colors that caused everyone to look around.
Both Gazelle and Jeremy heard it and looked up from their tears for the source of the sound.
(Bah bah bah…)
Again, a light shined, this time from the orb, three times… three different colors.
They all stared at the glass ball, Jeremy praying, hoping…
"Aelita?" He whispered hopefully.
The glass sphere was silent… unmoving… before…
(Bah bah bah…) With each syllable a light flashed.
"Aelita!" He yelled happily, going to the mic and looking at the glass ball. "It's me, Jeremy… wake up Aelita!"
(Bah bah bah, bah bah bah, bah bah bah!)
"Yes, it's me, I'm right here girl, it's time to wake up now!" He said.
From around the room music started playing, and lights started to turn on.
(Do you remember when we first said hi, beginning of time first contact we made…) A beautiful voice sang out, just like the one singing earlier. (I was transmitting to you, oh to you, far from the sky!)
"Yes, I heard you girl, I've heard you all day, I'm sorry I took so long!" He cried tearfully.
Gazelle felt happy as the lights began to coalesce into an image in front of them, all around screens turned on and each showing the same picture of a beautiful field of flowers and grass, of trees and plants.
(Meteor send messages me to you, and the winds singing your melody fine…) It sang back just as happily, as they caught flashes of 'someone' running past them. (What Is so amazing is that its you and by my side!)
The images changed as visions of shapes morphed and formed, as something ran around the screens so fast, they couldn't catch a proper glimpse. They saw a small hand, a foot, a glimpse of a white gown…
(I'll turn the stardust into snowflakes for you to feel me, and more and more nearby you… the waves will whisper to me all your secrets and your memories as deep as the blue sea…)
Then the lights changed direction and from one of the corridors a beautiful cascade of lights began to appear, causing them all to look as colors beyond the rainbow's imaginations appeared. They spiraled together and took on the form of… a human girl. She was clad only in a white gown, barefoot and wearing nothing else, but she looked younger than Jeremy, and stood two or three feet less than he was.
(I want you lets feel and touch, touch my cheeks like the summer breeze… I feel tingles in the air, particles me with your touch!) She sang as she hopped and skipped toward him.
Jeremy in turn smiled and laughed as he held his hand and 'held' her as she twirled and danced around him. She was singing her joy at seeing him, at long last, neither was alone in the world. He listened to her dancing and singing, ignoring the mammals around him who were stunned and amazed, awed and loving the scene before them.
(Touch me now, I want you to feel my touch, feel the sensation run through you…) She sang as she let him go and danced around the command center. (You'll always be my fresh air, beautiful, cover you, with my touch!)
As she ran past the mammals, she waved at them and twirled as she took a leap, surprising them all as she vanished and reappeared behind them and jumped into a computer screen and appear on it as if she were running away.
(If only we could close the distance between us… I want to walk the stardust beach, your my star!) She sang as she ran around the screens, vanishing and reappearing in the next one. (Come on and touch me… I want you lets feel and touch, touch my cheeks like the summer breeze… I feel tingles in the air, particles cover me with your touch!)
As she ran past, she waved at Jeremy who smiled and waved back at her, laughing as all his sadness vanished.
(I want you to feel my touch…)
She looked at Gazelle and smiled happily, waving at her with joy in her face, and she waved back just as happily.
(Feel the sensation run through you…)
She pointed at the other mammals and waved at them, who waved back with smiles and even a few laughs.
(You'll always be my fresh air… beautiful, cover me with your touch!)
She held her arms open in a big hug as she spun and danced, and as she did flower petals danced with her only enhancing the joyous feeling she was giving off.
(I want you to feel my touch… I feel tingles in the air… I want you to feel my touch… you'll always be my fresh air!)
At long last she jumped forward but instead of appearing in the room, the glass orb lit up in a beautiful array of colors and Aelita appeared, standing in the orb smiling at all of them, but mostly looking at Jeremy.
Jeremy bent down and looked at the AI, laughing and crying as he beheld the most beautiful sight he'd ever seen. His father had poured 'everything' into her creation, from her looks, to her voice, to her very thinking… she was a child… the purest form of a human child ever. Absolutely trusting, absolutely loving, caring for all around her as if they were her family and friends. All she wanted was to make them smile and laugh, to guide them to a more beautiful world that she wished to build.
"What is she?" Mayor Lioness asked with a laugh as she stepped forward and looked at the little human image in the ball.
"She's Aelita…" Jeremy whispered softly, leaning close to the ball and closing his eyes as he cried. "And she's… my father's… humanity's last gift to 'us'…"
Aelita closed her eyes and leaned as close to Jeremy as the glass ball would allow, smiling as if she were being held by a parent lovingly holding its child.
"I don't understand… you said all the other humans were gone… so what is she?" Gazelle asked.
"She's an AI… she isn't really 'alive', like I am… she only exists in the computer systems and… this portable holographic computer system." He said as he held up the sphere for them to see.
As he did, she looked around at all of the mammals, staring in awe and wonder at them.
"Hi there!" Some of them said.
She smiled and waved back, not speaking a word.
"I'm afraid she can only talk when she's singing. If she does have any words, she can only convey them in the form of song, with the exception being her own private thoughts." He said as she nodded to confirm what he said.
"That is… amazing…" Mayor Lioness said, and Aelita smiled and vanished before reappearing as a lion of earth's past.
She roared a loud roar before vanishing and returning to her human form.
"What the?" Lioness asked in confusion.
"She's saying you look like a creature from 'our' time." He chuckled, as they all did seem to resemble earth animals of the past but with a lot more stages of evolution between the two.
Aelita nodded and chuckled as well, before bowing in apology to the her.
"No offense taken little one."
Aelita nodded and turned to Gazelle before bowing and pointing at Jeremy.
"Uh… I don't understand?" Gazelle asked in confusion, not sure what she was saying.
Aelita looked sad before she smiled and took on the form of her phone, then took on the form of the console, then Jeremy, then herself and nodding with a smile.
"Oh… I see… your welcome!" She said, realizing she was saying 'thank you for giving Jeremy the energy to wake me up'.
Aelita nodded before she looked thoughtful. Then she nodded and ran to the edge of the orb and disappeared, seconds later the lights turned on and Aelita appeared in bigger form, ran over to Gazelle and proceeded to hug her.
"Uh… your welcome?" She asked, not sure what she did this time.
It was 'odd' feeling the little human ai hug her, she didn't 'feel' the hug, yet she felt the warmth… it was like she was being hugged by light, warm and there yet not 'physically' there.
Aelita looked up and frowned, before she smiled and ran to Jeremy, and tugged him toward Gazelle. Once he was close enough, she had him pushed closer, and tugged Gazelle's arm around him into a hug, then she grabbed both their free arms and completed the scene by having them hug 'her' as she hugged them back, smiling being as close as she could to them.
"I understand now… she's saying, 'thank you for saving Jeremy… you're my family just like he is now'!" He said, and Aelita confirmed by nodding happily.
Both of them blushed as she considered the two of them 'family', but regardless they smiled and nodded.
Eventually Aelita let go and jumped back into the glass orb, returning to her small form again. She assumed the image of a caged bird, then had the cage open, and the bird flew out toward the blue sky. After she gave her message, she returned normal and looked at him expectantly.
"You want to leave now huh?" He asked knowingly.
She nodded excitedly and smiled as if expecting him to say 'yes'.
"Yea… you can leave Aelita…" He muttered sadly, slowly patting her glass orb lovingly, but the tone caused her to frown in confusion and sadness. "Miss Lioness… can you take Aelita out of here?"
"What, I don't understand, what do you mean take her out of her?" She asked in confusion.
He slowly held her sphere out to her and Aelita looked at him in confusion.
"Please… take her away from this place… she doesn't deserve to stay here anymore…" He said in a dead tone. "I don't want her to stay here anymore. She was created to help us learn from our past mistakes… but there's only one human so…"
"Jeremy, but what about you?" Gazelle asked, feeling her heart growing heavy with an ache.
"There's nothing for me out there… and… I don't deserve to live in your world." He said sadly, but not as sad as Aelita looked as she listened to him. "I'm just one human… but even 'one' human can do so much damage… your world doesn't need my kind… not after what we did in the past. But Aelita… she can help you learn from our past, she can show you our history, she can help make your world better… I'd just… slow her down and… be in her way…"
He handed Aelita's sphere to Mayor Lioness who looked sadly at him as he sat down in a chair.
"It's better… I stay here… its where I came from… might as well be where I belong… until…" He whispered sadly. "I'd just be in her way… I'd just be in… your way…"
Gazelle wanted to smack him, not out of anger but of sadness. Still, he 'still' thought his life had no meaning. She was going to smack him and tell him tearfully that she 'wanted' him to live… but Aelita beat her to the punch.
A cascade of lights appeared as Aelita jumped out of her sphere, and hugged Jeremy.
(Oceans apart… day after day… and I slowly go insane… I hear your voice… on the line…) She sang sadly. (But it doesn't stop the pain, if I see you next to never… how can we say forever?)
She looked up at him with tears in her eyes. (Wherever you go… whatever you do, I will be right here waiting for you! Whatever it takes, or how my heart breaks… I will be right here waiting for you!)
With that she stepped away and pointed at two screens. On one screen a picture of his father when he was old and Jeremy when he was a young child, between them… a small orb that looked like hers.
(I took for granted… all the times… that I thought would last somehow!) She sang sadly. (I hear the laughter, I taste the tears… but I can't get near you now!)
On the other screen she showed a picture of Jeremy's cryo-pod being sealed, the picture taker being Jeremy's father as he watched his son being frozen, and on a small table was her sphere, slightly larger than the last one.
(Oh, can't you see it baby, you got me going crazy!)
She turned and looked at him sadly.
(Wherever you go, whatever you do… I will be right here waiting for you!) She stepped closer and held his hand. (Whatever it takes, or how my heart breaks, I will be right here waiting for you!)
She leaned closer and hugged his chest, smiling as she did. (I wonder how we can survive, this 'romance', but in the end if I'm with you… I'll take the chance!) She looked at him with a warm and smiling face as she stepped away.
(Oh, can't you see it baby, you got me going crazy! Wherever you go, whatever you do… I will be right here waiting for you… whatever it takes, or how my heart breaks, I will be right here waiting for you!) She sang one last time, before she turned and walked 'into' the computer consoles. (I will be… right here waiting for you…)
She then appeared on the screen in the middle of the two pictures, sitting down in her field of flowers with arms crossed, patiently waiting for him to decide what he wants to do.
Everyone got the message, even Jeremy. She wasn't going to leave him 'behind' because he wanted her to be free. If he would stay and live down here, then she would stay with him every second. She would wait for him to decide when he wanted to leave, and when he did, she would be right beside him.
They were together now, and she wasn't about to let them be separated easily.
Gazelle looked sadly at Jeremy, who had his eyes closed in thought. She wanted to tell him to come with her, to leave this place… but it was his home, the only home he knew, he ever had. Aelita too wanted to leave, but only if 'they' could leave together. If they weren't together, then she wouldn't leave without him.
She sighed and sat next to Jeremy, feeling the cold steel of the chair and hating this place the longer she remained again.
"Jeremy… whatever you decide… I'll help you however I can." She said warmly, holding his hand.
She leaned close and rubbed his cheek with her own, and felt her heart beating in sync with his once more.
Jeremy likewise finally accepted the choice they wanted him to make, he wasn't being given much choice.
"Alright… let's go outside Aelita!" He whispered with a chuckle. "Let's go and see what this new world is like for us!"
Aelita jumped up with a smile and ran at the screen, appearing in the room again in her full-sized form, before jumping and reemerging inside the glass sphere as her small form.
With that, he gently picked up the sphere and with Gazelle holding his hand, the Mayor leading the way, and every other mammal behind them, left the cramped, dead, colorless confines of the old world he lived in for the bright, colorful, open new world that they had both woken up to.
A human of the past, an AI with Humanity's best, and a kind Antelope of the future…
Little did they know, those two were not the only things that had 'awoken' when Aelita was transferred from the base's systems…
In a dark, dark, deep section of the base, in a room without light, a tiny stream of power was transferred into something that could not be seen…
Until a pair of red glowing eyes turned on…
[Bark Bark!]